"It's disappointing that there's no reserve day...I find it a bit bizarre that something like that would be signed off"

LAUREN WINFIELD'S T20 WORLD CUP DIARY: The England batsman talks to The Cricketer ahead of her side's semi-final against India, with thoughts on a poor forecast, a lack of reserve day, Shafali Verma, Heather Knight and Amy Jones' opening struggles

We’re in a funny position ahead of our semi-final against India tomorrow. I think we’ve got a nice bit of momentum from the last few games, but then we’re just hoping that the rain stays away and that we can get a game in.

There has been a lot of talk around the weather; we had to train indoors today. The most disappointing thing is the fact that there’s no reserve day. But at the end of the day, if we’d have come top of the group and beaten South Africa in the first game, then we’d be automatically through whether it rained or not.

It’s hard with the weather – it’s not in your hands, but you do think about the group games earlier on. It was in our hands at that stage, but we didn’t take those opportunities. But that just seems like such a long time ago now.

The good news is that the SCG was in really good nick when we trained there. We had to have a hit indoors but we fielded outside. The outfield is in great condition; you wouldn’t know that it’s been raining heavily.

The groundsman is pretty confident that if we get a break in the rain tomorrow, give him 20 minutes or half an hour and we’ll be on. When the Big Bash final happened there, they had horrendous rain for days and they managed to make a game of it. Fingers crossed that’s the case tomorrow.

The bushfire game was supposed to be at the SCG but got moved to Melbourne a couple of days before. That’s how much rain they were expecting but they still got on. It stopped raining this afternoon and it was forecast to go through the afternoon, but it’s improving all the time. Let’s hope it continues that way.

It’s obviously the same for the men in the T20 format. But I do find it a bit bizarre how the ICC would sign something off like that when you consider that we’ve all spent two years building up to this tournament and then the weather could potentially interfere.

But that’s the way it is at the moment – that’s the rule. I know that the Australians asked about a reserve day and the organisers just simply said no – it’s not been laid out at the start of the tournament, so it’s not something that’s going to change. Maybe it’s something that will be reviewed in the future.

^{Winfield was left out for the off-spin of Mady Villiers in England's win over West Indies}

If we do get on, we’ll be doing so on the back of three good wins, having lost that first game against South Africa. Obviously, Amy Jones dropped down into the middle order for the most recent win against West Indies, with Tammy Beaumont shifting back up to the top.

Jonesey had a tough Ashes series in England and then found a nice bit of form in Malaysia and then has found it difficult out here. Obviously, she’s got the gloves so she’s going to be in the team, but you feel a lot of pressure, particularly if you don’t get off to a good start.

The job, pretty much, is to win the powerplay, so if that’s not happening then you put yourself under a lot of pressure. But you don’t want players going into their shells. You want them to be playing freely. I think that’s what dropping her down enabled her to do – just to play with freedom. You’ve kind of got nothing to lose with three overs left. Hopefully it’s given her some good confidence.

Tammy was Amy’s predecessor and again, she was in my position to a degree, where she wasn’t really getting in. So you’re not really losing anything by putting her up there and making a change. It’s just one of those things – it’s all about form, and if you’re struggling then something’s got to change. We couldn’t repeatedly not have great powerplays in the first five overs and not make a change. But we’ve all been in that position; it’s just one of those things.

On the other hand, Heather Knight has been playing as well as I’ve ever seen her play in T20Is. She did it in last year’s Kia Super League, where she really dominated. She didn’t have the greatest Big Bash this year, but in terms of adding to her game, this is the best I’ve seen her.

She just knows when to go through the gears and when to sit in. When you talk about being fearless as a leader, you want to take that on and epitomise that. It’s exactly what she’s done. I think sometimes when you’re in a leadership role, that can help. The idea that it’s not about you but you have to show the way. It forces you into having a positive mindset.

She has been superb through the middle overs with Nat Sciver and we will need more of the same against India. How we play their spinners will be a huge part of the game. If you look at how they’ve won games, they like to bat first and then defend it with their slow bowling.

^{Shafali Verma is now the top-ranked batsman in women's T20Is}

If we can outrun them when we bat, that will be a big factor as well – as it was in the West Indies game. That will be the difference. We’ve had a lot of success against this team and against this attack. We’ve not tried to be ultra-aggressive, but just to be really smart, run the fielders ragged and then attack at the right times.

Obviously, Shafali Verma has been one of the stars of this competition – just the way she has gone off in the powerplays. We’ll need to stop her doing that. If you tuck her up and don’t give her any room, that seems to be working. She looks to dominate spin early. But if you hammer a really good length to her and bowl your best ball as often as you can, she’s not superhuman.

She will definitely give you a chance. It’s the nature of how she plays. The shorter stuff and the hard length stuff is what she’s found more difficult. We’ve had a lot of success against her compared to other international teams, so if we don’t move too far away from plans that have worked, then I’m sure we’ll be fine.

That said, she’ll be looking at ways to counter what we’ve done against her. And, of course, she’s just gone to the top of the ICC batting rankings. It’s amazing how quickly you can rise. She’s probably only been around for six months or a year.

She’s going to be a quality player and she is one already – we won’t take her lightly. It’s amazing for the game to have two real youngsters heading up the batting and bowling rankings, with Sophie Ecclestone now topping that list. It shows how far the women’s game has come.

To be honest, when Sophie came onto the scene, we all knew she was different and was going to be pretty special. The fact that she’s so tall makes her different to a lot of other female spin bowlers, who you can sweep with ease. But because of her height, it’s really difficult.

She turns the ball, she’s clever, she’s got smarter and smarter as we’ve gone on. She’s learnt about her game and the tactical side of it. I remember when I first played in the KSL with Paul Grayson and he said: ‘Jeez, this left-armer is proper. She’s got as good an action as I’ve ever seen in the women’s game.’ She was always one to watch.

Sometimes when you first break onto the scene, the world falls at your feet and you’re brilliant, but then people find you out. With Sophie, she’s just continued and she’s never really had that lull. She’s always stayed ahead of the game. That’s been the most impressive thing – she’s played a lot of international cricket now against every team and she’s still causing them chaos.